Ministry calls for quake donations transparency

BEIJING - China's Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) on Monday asked charity groups to regulate donations intended for the area of Southwest China rocked by Saturday's deadly earthquake, calling for transparency and social supervision.

In a statement, the MCA said charity groups that are organizing donation drives for the quake-hit areas of Sichuan province should publicize information about their activities and donation incomes in accordance with existing regulations.

Charity groups' websites should be the major channels for such information, which should be available for inquiry over a long period of time.

The ministry added donations should be used in accordance with donors' wishes as well as the demands of the rescue and relief work and reconstruction projects.

The statement advocated citizens and organizations donating money to legally registered, disaster relief-dedicated charity groups.

The ministry urged civil affairs department in Sichuan to log statistics of donations and publish them on a regular basis.

In the meantime, the MCA asked charity groups and volunteers not to go to disaster-hit area by themselves, as they are in a state of emergency and have very limited accommodation for more people.

The death toll to the quake that jolted Lushan County of Sichuan's Ya'an city at 8:02 am Beijing time on Saturday has risen to at least 186, with more than 11,000 others injured. More than 1.5 million people have been affected by the disaster.